1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to power management in electronic devices, and more particularly, to controlling power consumption in electronic devices that are configured to operate in a low-power mode.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many electronic devices, and in particular, microprocessors and microcontrollers, are used in applications having an independent power supply, such as a battery. To extend battery life, and more generally, to conserve energy, many devices provide one or more low-power operating modes in which the device consumes less power. For example, in one low-power mode, the microprocessor temporarily suspends instruction execution (i.e., by entering an “idle” state) based on processing demand, which reduces power consumption when processing capacity exceeds processing demand. Many devices that make use of these low-power modes operate on the basis of a “sleep cycle” in which the device regularly enters the low-power mode for some amount of time, and then “wakes” from the low-power mode to perform certain functions of the device. This power consumption technique can cause unsolicited processing interruptions, resulting in inefficient operation.